[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

I'm tired of hearing this. Secretariat was a darn good stallion; he sired 1) a Horse of the Year (Lady's Secret) 2) a Preakness/Belmont winner (Risen Star) 3) a Travers/Hopeful/Vosburg winner (General Assembly), 4) a Melbourne Cup winner (Kingston Rule), plus a good number of graded/group winners. As this recital indicates, Big Red was a stamina sire, however during his early stud career Claibourne and partners mated him as though he were a typical Bold Ruler son, with stamina mares. Only after his first 2yos got to the track did they realize their mistake and start to give him mares with a bit more speed (like Great Lady M.).

Affirmed was never expected to excell at stud by the Blood Grass elite breeders; he was by Exclusive Native, who was okay but not top drawer, while the damside was distinctly blue-collar. He was never given the top level mares, yet he still sired 1) a multiple US champion (Flawlessly), 2) a Canadian Triple Crown winner (Peteski), 3) classic winners (Trusted Partner, Bint Pasha), and numerous group/graded winners, including everyone's favorite, The Tin Dude. He, too, tended to produce horses who didn't excell at 2 on dirt tracks - most were better at 3 or older and on turf. That was a truly strange breeding result - a horse who never ran on turf and whose parents and grandparents never ran on turf should become an excellent sire of turf horses. Who can figure that one out?

You missed the point. Secretariat was not a very successful sire especially compared to expectations. If he was running today and was retired after the belmont (which is surely what would happen) he would go to stud with a 150k fee. Can you say with a straight face that he was anywhere close to that kind of sire? Sure things are different but now but he was a huge disappointment at stud. As was Affirmed. Same scenario as above. What would he have stood for after winning the TC in 2008? 100k easy. Knowing now what kind of sires they turned out to be would you say that was a good deal? My point is that because of racetrack success people are paying way too much for unproven sires, both in breeding and at the sales. And as shown by numerous superior racehorses that are not premium sires, that is a bad play.